Turns out ABBA‘s comeback was something fans didn’t know they needed.
The group’s new albumm Voyage –– their first in about 40 years — has debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 album chart. That’s the highest the iconic Swedish group has ever gotten on the chart, surprisingly. Prior to that, their top position was number 14, achieved by 1978’s ABBA: The Album. That album featured the hit single “Take a Chance on Me.”
Overall, Voyage is ABBA’s 14th album to chart on the Billboard 200, not counting the hit Mamma Mia! movie soundtracks featuring the group’s music. Ironically, those two soundtracks performed better on the chart that any of ABBA’s original studio album releases: The original hit number one in 2008 and the sequel was number three in 2018.
Of note: Cher‘s album of ABBA covers, Dancing Queen, hit number three in 2019.
As previously reported, Voyage topped the charts in the U.K., where the group’s always been wildly popular, and had the biggest opening sales week since Ed Sheeran‘s Divide in 2017.
Voyage was created to promote the band’s upcoming concert experience, ABBA Voyage, which will open May 27 at a purpose-built arena in London. The show features digital avatars of the group, looking as they did around 1979, performing onstage with a live ten-piece band.
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